Official Name: Amatsu-KamiNicknames: Japanese Gods, Gods of Japan, Shinto Gods, Buddhist Gods, et alFormer Aliases: No known former aliasesOther Current Aliases: No other known current aliasesFirst Appearance: Thor I #301Origin: Thor I Annual 8

==Origin==

Dimension of Origin: AmaHabitat: Earth-likeGravity: Earth-likeAtmosphere: Earth-likePopulation: 400-550 range (estimated) Other Associated Dimensions: The Japanese underworld, a dark gloomy realm of
eternal night known as Yomi, is the realm set aside by the Japanese gods to hold the
shades ("astral spirits") of the mortal worshippers of Ancient Japan. It is ruled by
the goddess Izanami and her son Emma-O, the god of the dead. The deepest depths of this
realm is ruled by Mikaboshi who leads the Tengu, demons of Japan, and the Oni, the
unclean spirits of the dead. The Japanese realm is also populated by a race of "faerie-like"
divinities.

==History==

History: The Kami or Gods of Japan are an extra-dimensional race of superhumanly
powerful humanoid beings who were worshipped by the Ancient Japanese from around 660 BC
when the Japanese Empire first came to power to 1946 when the empire dissolved its last
ties to the Shinto Religion, the last remaining form of its ancient worship rites to the
gods. It is uncertain if there are any connections between the Kami of Japan to the Xian or Gods of China,
their nearest godly neighbors. "Kami" is the ancient Shinto word for "god" or "deity."

The Kami dwell in an other-dimensional realm called Ama or "heaven," a small "pocket"
dimension adjacent to Earth; an interdimensional nexus between Ama and Earth exists
somewhere on Mount Fiji near Tokyo on the island of Honshu. The pathway which connects
the two realms is called Ameno-kihasi-date, or "bridge of heaven." According to legend,
Izanagi, the ruler
of the Japanese Gods, once stood on this path as he plunged his staff into the sea and
created the islands of Japan. He claimed the island of Onokoro for himself as the location
of his first temple.

The precise origin of the Japanese gods, like that of all of Earth's pantheons of gods,
is shrouded in legend. According to the Kojiki, a Japanese tome describing the creation of
the universe, the first divine couple was Takamimusubi and Kamumimusubi who were born from
Ama-no-minaka, the Japanese Chaos. Takamimusubi and Kamumimusubi were followed by eight
siblings which included Izanagi and Izanami, ancestors of the Emperors of Japan. However,
according to the later Nihongi, a later Japanese tome, the Japanese gods were children of
Inn and Yo, the male and female principles of the universe. It is believed that Yo was
actually Gaea, the primordial earth-mother who had survived the destruction of the Elder
Gods of Earth by infusing her life into the life-giving essence of the Earth. Many of the
Elder Gods had degenerated into demonic status and were destroyed by Atum or had fled Earth
for other planes of existence. Atum had been born from Gaea by mating with the sentient
biosphere of the Earth known as the Demiurge. Atum later departed the earth after shedding
the excess demonic energies of the Elder Gods he had slain; some of these energies becoming
demonic beings like Mephisto, Satannish and
Mikaboshi, who became
the eternal enemy of the Japanese gods. Whether the Japanese god Inn was another form of the
Demiurge or of Atum himself is unrevealed.

Inn and Yo gave birth to the first generation of Japanese gods, but only one couple from
among them, Izanagi and Izanami, prospered. They conceived many of the main gods of Japan,
but Izanami was badly burned by her last child, the fire-god Kagi-Tsuchi, who Izanagi split
into three pieces with an axe. (Kagi-Tsuchi later regenerated himself and fathered several of
the minor divinities of Japan.) Izanami died as a result of his birth, and her spirit departed
Ama with the souls of her children for the underworld of Yomi, the Land of Gloom. Izanagi
departed Earth to look for her and calling her name. Izanagi heard her voice calling to him
and warning him that she had already eaten from the table of the dead and could not return
with him. She admitted she wanted to return to earth, but she would have to ask the spirits
of the dead if she could be allowed to return with him. Izanami had warned Izanagi not to
look upon her while she in the underworld, but he grew tired of waiting for her and took a
long pin from his hair to use as a torch to look for her and his children. When he found
Izanami, he discovered that she had become a rotting corpse covered in maggots devouring her
flesh and recoiled from her horrible appearance. Collecting his children, he fled from Yomi,
but Izanami was so upset that he had peeked upon her undead body that she sent the forces of
the underworld upon him. To escape these demonic forces, Izanagi tossed away his headdress,
transforming it into grapes that the demons stopped to eat. As they caught back up to him,
Izanagi tossed away the comb from his hair, transforming it into bamboo shoots that the
demons once more stopped to eat. When Izanami caught up to him, Izanagi reached the boundary
of Yomi that entered into the land of the living and erected a great barrier to forever
separate the land of the living from the land of the dead. Izanami cursed at him claiming
that she would take a thousand people a year from earth for revenge, but Izanagi promised to
cause one thousand and five hundred people to be born a year so that there would always be
people on earth.

After escaping the underworld, Izanagi and his children eventually rested at the mouth of a
stream surrounded by orange trees and bushes and clovers near modern-day Hyuga. With these
sacred waters, he washed the filth of the underworld from himself and his children and
imparted portions of godhood from himself to his children from his eyes and face. (In later
myths, it was claimed he actually created his children from his eyes by wiping them from his
face.) One of his children, Emma-O, however, remained behind in Yomi and became god of the
dead.

Izanagi baptized his children from the springs to make them gods. Among his children, he was
most pleased with Amaterasu the sun-goddess, Tsukiyomi the moon-god and
Susanowo the storm-god
among all of them that he divided the world up between them. He gave Amaterasu complete rule of
Japan and the other gods, he gave Tsukiyomi reverence over the night and he gave Susanowo
dominion over the ocean and all that was within it. Susanowo, however, preferred to have gained
control over Yomi, but the underworld had become the domain of Izanami and Emma-O. Susanowo,
meanwhile, wandered heaven and earth causing trouble for the other gods. Amaterasu, in her rule
as Empress of Japan, reportedly shared her bed with both Tsukiyomi and Susanowo looking for a
perfect mate and eventually accepted Takamimusubi, the sky-god, as her husband, but he only had
a certain amount of power in the marriage, and had no real power over the pantheon under Izanagi.

Amaterasu became the ancestor of the ruling Imperial family of Japan, but when she tried to
share her hospitality with Susanowo, she became upset when his display of power ruined her
palace at Hokkaido. Susanowo had become offended by the means the food-goddess Uke-Mochi
produced food from her body and slew her, and Amaterasu in disgrace fled for self-imposed exile
within a cave on Mount Fiji. According to legend, her absence resulted in an eclipse over Japan.
The Japanese gods tried luring Amaterasu from the cave with no success, but the goddess, Uzumei,
turned over a pot and performed a lascivious dance while dropping her clothing that attracted
the attention of the other gods. When Amaterasu heard the party and revelry, she looked out to
see what was happening and discovered a reflection of herself in a mirror crafted by the gods
Amatsumara and Ishikori-dome. Trapped by her own reflection, Amaterasu was pulled from the cave
by the other gods as sunlight returned to Japan.

As the Japanese gods grew tired of living on Earth, they retreated to Ama to preside for
eternity. When Amaterasu finally departed earth, she left her mirror and throne to her
grandson, Ninigi, and departed Earth for the final time. Several of the Japanese gods
continued to live between Earth and Ama for centuries to live among their worshippers.
Around 1000 AD, an edict by the Third Host of the Celestials forbade the Japanese Gods with
trafficking with mortals, but worship of the Japanese gods, or Shintoism, continued well into
modern times. During the encounter with the Celestials, Izanagi had met with the rulers of the
other pantheons of earth and became a member of the
Council of Godheads.
As per a pact with Odin,
Chieftain of the Asgardian gods, Izanagi donated the necessary life-energies to
Thor to restore the
Gods of Asgard
to life after the Fourth Host of the Celestials.

In recent years, Mikaboshi, the god of evil, sought the Grasscutter Sword, the most sacred
weapon of the Japanese gods, and used it to sever the bridge of heaven known as
Ameno-kihasi-date, that connected Ama to Earth. It is believed that the Grasscutter was once
known as Kusanagi, the mystical sword Susanowo cleaved from the corpse of the eight-headed
serpent, Yamato-no-orochi. (Some myths claim Susanowo merely found the sword in the serpent's
body). The sword had rested for millennia within a temple guarded by the spirits of the
warriors slain by it until Thor came in search of it as part of a quest. Afterward, the sword
passed through several mortal hands until Mikaboshi claimed it and conquered Yomi and Ama,
killing or driving many of the Kami to earth or other dimensions. In trying to slay the
Olympian gods, Mikaboshi
kidnapped Alexander Aaron, the mortal son of the war-god,
Ares, in order to
encourage him to usurp his father.
Hermes, the
Olympian messenger-god, and
Inari the Japanese rice-god,
meanwhile, used subterfuge to unite the Olympians and surviving Kami against Mikaboshi. Joined
by Kumari, the Japanese
goddess of freshwater,
the Olympian god Poseidon
flooded Yomi, defeating Mikaboshi and losing the Grasscutter sword again for perhaps eternity.

The Japanese gods and the Olympian gods have been close allies ever since. The Japanese gods
still have worshippers today, having been overwhelmed by other religions like Buddhism, where
they are worshipped under other names, and even Christianity introduced to Japan from the West.
While the extent of their worship is not as great as it once was, Shintoism is still a
practiced religion in many parts of Japan and the islands of the Pacific rim.

Relationships to Other Pantheons: The Kami or Gods of Japan have undefined tenuous
links with the
Xian of
China, the Kahunas
or Oceanic Gods of the Pacific and even the
Devas
(Hindu Gods of India) due to their connections to Buddhism. Each pantheon has
left an indelicate mark on the religion which has resulted in several of their
deities to share attributes as Buddhist deities; for example, the Japanese
goddess Benten is often
linked to the Hindu goddess
Sarasvati
and the Chinese goddess,
Guan-Yin,
and is respected as a goddess in both the Hindu and Japanese pantheons.
Furthermore, it is possible, Emma-O,
the god of the dead, is actually Yama,
the Hindu god of the dead. In recent years, the Kami have also become allies of the Olympians against Mikaboshi.
It has also been suggested that the Kami might have ties with the
Anasazi gods
of North America and the
Coatli of
Central America based on vague similarities between the culture of the Orient
and the Ancient Mexican culture. It is believed these similarities could be
connected to Japanese sailors and invaders visiting the Pacific coasts of North
America and South America in the First Millennium.

==Characteristics==Body Type: HumanoidAvg. Height: 5' 11"Avg. Weight: 425 lbsEyes: TwoHair: NormalSkin: NormalLimbs: TwoFingers: Five with opposable thumbToes: FiveSpecial Adaptations: The Kami or Japanese gods are exceptionally
long-lived, but they are not immortal like the Olympian gods; they age very
slowly upon reaching adulthood, but they are not invulnerable to death. They are
physically more durable than human beings; their skin, bone and tissue being
three times more durable and dense than similar tissue in human beings.

==Powers==

Strength Level: The average male Japanese god possesses superhuman strength
enabling him to lift (press) about 30 tons under optimal conditions; the average
female Japanese goddess can lift (press) about 25 tons under optimal conditions. Known Powers: The Kami or Japanese gods possess superhuman strength, speed,
stamina, longevity and resistance to harm. They are also inclined to tap and manipulate
mystical energies for feats of magic, mostly for tapping into the elemental forces of the
weather, altering their appearance, teleporting through dimension barriers and casting
spells through incantations. The scope of each god's powers are mostly limited to one
object, idea or field, usually tied into their personality. For example, as the
Japanese goddess of the sun, Amaterasu can conjure intense light and heat equal to a small
sun whereas Susanowo, as god of sea and storm, can create tidal waves and create hurricanes
and tsunamis.Known Abilities: The Japanese Gods are versed in a full range of martial arts
superior to most forms of unarmed combat resembling earthly ninjitsu, tae kwan do, judo or
karate. They also have skills equal to their fields of expertise,
Bishamon, the war-god is
a brilliant military strategist well-versed in weapons and Fukrokuju, the wisdom-god, is
well-versed in the knowledge and secrets of the Orient.